At sea on a cargo ship, Sydney hurries to the lower deck, finds a radio, and issues a distress signal.

At APO, Jack tells Sloane that Prophet 5 has Syd. Marshall recovers Sydney's transmission but it's deleted by a Langley insider before he could listen to it - meaning Prophet 5 has infiltrated the CIA. They determine to go to Langley to recover the message.

Marshall and Dixon join a group of tourists at CIA headquarters.

 

Meanwhile, Tom goes to the Payroll Department to complain about a missed pay check. Rachel, pretending she has an interview, leaves her cell phone with the guard. The cell phone is actually a device that infiltrates security. Tom commandeers a Payroll Dept. desktop and, using the data sent from the cell phone, grants Rachel security access to the CIA server room. He also unlocks the Witness Protection records room.

Marshall distracts onlookers by announcing he's cracked the code that appears on a monument. Dixon sprays a surveillance camera, causing an "Anthrax alert." Rachel then slips into the server room but finds that Syd's transmission was purged. Jack tells her to pull the hard drive, knowing that it will raise the alarm and cause a lockdown. He calls Weiss for help.

Weiss arrives and apologises to Dixon, whom he calls "Ambassador." While he escorts Dixon and Marshall out, he gives Dixon the key to get Tom. Marshall ducks into an office, locates Rachel with surveillance cameras and guides her through a maze of servers.

On the boat, Syd holds Peyton at gunpoint and asks her to explain the ultrasound images posted in a room. She faints, however. She wakes to find herself being prepped for surgery.

At APO, Marshall and Dixon inspect the hard drive and discover that the person who purged the records had Alpha Black clearance. Only seven directors have this clearance. They also find the secured cell phone numbers that enable these men to access the code. Marshall says he can trace which phone was used to access the server.

Tom uses Marshall's PC to decode the info he downloaded from the Witness Protection records. The data contains photos of his murdered wife along with the name and location of a man. Later, Tom pays a visit to the man.

Jack convenes a meeting with the seven directors, Marshall locks in a match and calls that phone. When Director Davenport's phone rings, Jack immediately shoots him and forces him to divulge Sydney's whereabouts. CIA security arrests Jack.

The doctors perform an amnio on Syd and decide to operate. Dixon arrives on the ship and realises it's abandoned except for the infirmary. He spots the post-op Syd and takes her to the helicopter.

At the hospital, Jack tells Syd that the baby is fine, that the mysterious surgery actually corrected a placental abruption. After a few minutes, an armed guard tells Jack that it is time to go and a confused Sydney says reluctantly goodbye to her father.

 

 
Written By: J.R. Orci.
Directed By: Karen Gaviola.
Guest Starring: Greg Grunberg as Eric Weiss, James Handy as Devlin, John Aylward as Davenport, Emmanuel Todorov as guard, Kathe Mazur as Dr. Lynn, Cate Cohen as Tour Guide, Kitty Swink as Tracie and Charlie Mattera as Security Guard.
Additional Notes:

"S.O.S" first aired in America four months after the previous episode. The series went on an extended hiatus due to Jennifer Garners maternity leave. The episode was part of an extended showing and was followed immediately by the episode "Maternal Instinct".
This episode marks J.R. Orci's seventh written episode and also
Karen Gaviola's first directed episode of Alias.
Amy Acker who plays Kelly Peyton now appears in the opening credits of the series. Elodie Bouchez (Renee Riene) is now a recurring character and will be credited as a guest star in the episodes she appears in.
Like the previous seasons, the photos of Marshall and his son Mitch whiche appear in the Op-Tech wizards office are actually photos of the actor Kevin Weisman and his son.
Sydney's field agent ID is Black-7-Niner-Sierra.

US Air Date: April 19th, 2006 on ABC.
UK Air Date: Not yet shown - to be shown on Bravo.
47 References: 1: When Sydney makers her S.O.S, she uses the frequency 447.550.000
2: In WitSec, Thomas Grace accesses secure file #0174247.
Location Ciphers: Washington DC.
Source Material:

> "S.O.S" Surveillance

> "S.O.S" Deciphered: An Original Review

> Season 5 Mission Log

> Discuss This Mission On Echelon

 

No Commercial Music Was Played In This Episode.

 

A much needed improvement for Alias, with a 4.9/8 rating. The series has gradually declined in ratings since the beginning of the season but this episode made a jump,matching the average for the opening episodes of the season. ABC finished in third place for the night and was beaten by Fox and CBS. (What are Neilson ratings?).

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